#32: Let’s Visit A Dungeon (3) — The Retired Magic Knight Is Running an Inn in the Frontier (WN)

Refa was dressed in ordinary civilian clothes and wasn’t carrying a sword.

Dressed like that, she looked like nothing more than a slender, handsome young man.

No, she was deliberately making herself appear that way.

To the men, our group probably looked like a married couple traveling with their child.

Refa calmly questioned them.

“Are you the thieves who’ve reportedly been prowling around this area lately?”

“Yeah, so what if we are, pretty boy!”

“If you know who we are, hand over your valuables.”

“Do as we say, or you’re gonna get hurt.”

The men brandished their swords, which didn’t look particularly sharp, while openly admitting to their crimes.

“It seems there’s no doubt that you’re the ones I’m looking for.”

Having said that, Refa kept her eyes fixed on the men and whispered quietly to Noah and me.

“I’ll subdue them immediately. Please stay right where you are and don’t move.”

At last, everything clicked into place.

So these men were Refa’s real objective.

Her targets were much more likely to take the bait if she posed as a father traveling with his wife and child than if she appeared alone as a man.

“I’m placing you all under arrest. Are you prepared?”

With that declaration, Refa raised the walking stick she’d been using to hike through the mountains. In other words, a wooden stick.

The men, meanwhile, were armed with actual weapons, including swords and axes, even if their blades were dull. There were eight of them against Refa alone.

Seeing Refa’s choice of weapon, the men apparently became convinced of their victory and broke into smug grins.

“You’ve only got yourself to blame for not handing over your money.”

The fight began.

“Noah, crouch down and stay perfectly still.”

“Okay, Lydia-san.”

Noah and I obediently remained where we were, just as Refa had instructed.

Women and children were easy to sell into slavery, so in situations like this, they generally weren’t killed immediately as long as they didn’t resist or attempt to escape.

Nevertheless, as a precaution, I quietly pulled my bag closer and took something out of it.

It wasn’t a sword or a knife. Weapons like those would only put us in greater danger.

It was better to pretend we were helpless. That way, our opponents would let their guard down.

I wasn’t sure how effective it would be, but it should at least work as something to blind them with.

In fact, my eyes were already stinging a little, even through the bag.

“Pretty boy, you’d better be ready to lose an arm!”

One of the men shouted his threat and charged at Refa, swinging his sword.

Refa swiftly dodged his attack and drove her wooden stick into his completely exposed torso.

“Guaaagh!”

The man’s body folded backward like a dog’s hind leg, and he collapsed face-first into the ground.

The other men gasped at Refa’s swift handling of her stick, but even with one man down, there were still seven of them. Apparently overconfident in their numerical advantage, they shouted,

“You bastard!”

And charged at Refa.

Refa continued knocking down her enemies one after another, and victory was already within her grasp.

It was at that very moment that a magic pig suddenly appeared behind Noah and me.

“BUUMOOO!”

Perhaps enraged by the fighting, the notoriously aggressive magic pig charged straight toward us at tremendous speed.

“Lydia-san! Noah!”

Refa tried to rush over to us, but she was too far away to make it in time.

Acting on instinct, I hurled the thing I was holding straight at the magic pig.

Yes, it was none other than the dish Refa had insisted on eating because it would be a waste to throw it away, which I’d confiscated after telling her she’d die if she ate it.

I’d only hoped it would make the pig flinch for a moment, but fortunately for me, and most unfortunately for the magic pig, something unexpected happened.

“BUMOO!”

Somehow, the magic pig swallowed the food I’d thrown at it.

Then, after letting out an enormous cry of “BUMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”, it collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

“Lydia-san! Noah! Are you both all right?”

Refa hurried back to us.

I turned around to see what had happened to the ruffians and found them staring in complete bewilderment. Some were sprawled on the ground after being struck down by Refa, while those still standing had completely lost their will to fight after witnessing what had happened to the magic pig. None showed any sign of trying to escape.

“We’re fine. That dish saved us.”

“Thank goodness.”

Refa looked delighted, but then tilted her head in puzzlement.

“I wonder if magic pigs hate eggs?”

So that thing was supposed to be eggs.

Just in case, I gently corrected her.

“I don’t think that was the problem.”

We tied up all eight men with rope and decided to pitch our tents there and spend the night.

The bandits wouldn’t have tents, but summer was approaching, so they probably wouldn’t freeze to death after a single night outdoors.

Noah and I divided the work between us and set about cooking the mushrooms.

Our menu consisted of sautéed mushrooms with bacon and a creamy mushroom and vegetable yogurt soup.

We put finely chopped onions, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, and mushrooms into a pot and sautéed them. Then we added flour, butter, white wine, water, salt, and pepper and simmered everything for about ten minutes. Finally, we added yogurt and brought the soup to a gentle simmer, taking care not to let it boil. And with that, our mushroom yogurt soup was ready.

Yogurt was slightly less prone to spoiling than milk, which made it more suitable for carrying on a journey. Cream soup made with yogurt had a slightly sour flavor, but it was refreshing and quite delicious. It was also lovely served chilled, but the mountains were a little cold, so I decided to make a warm soup instead.

Tonight’s dinner consisted of the sautéed mushrooms, soup, and bread topped with toasted cheese.

We were all hungry, so everything tasted especially delicious.

While we ate, Refa confessed, “I’m sorry. I used you two as bait to lure out the bandits.”

Apparently, bandits had been appearing around the Mushroom Dungeon recently, causing considerable trouble for the nearby villagers.

Naturally, the villagers had petitioned the knight order for help, but the knights had been extremely busy lately, and the bandits’ crimes had been limited to stealing money and valuables.

Catching all the bandits hiding in the mountains would require a large-scale search operation. With mountains of other urgent work demanding their attention, the knight order hadn’t been able to take action.

Even so, Refa had wanted to do something to help the villagers, so whenever she had free time, she’d visited the Adventurers’ Guild to look for people planning to visit the Mushroom Dungeon.

And that was where Noah and I had come in.

“I never intended to put either of you in danger…”

She seemed genuinely remorseful, but if Refa hadn’t accompanied us, I would have had to deal with those bandits all by myself.

“It’s quite all right. If anything, I’m glad you were here, Refa-san.”

That was what I told her.

“And we managed to catch a magic pig safely, too.”

“Refa-san, you were so cool!”

Noah was innocently delighted to have witnessed a knight’s heroic exploits up close.

After the three of us had finished eating, we gave the eight bandits some food as well.

“This ain’t that poison from earlier, is it?”

All eight of them looked wary. Well, that was only natural.

As for the magic pig that had fainted, we’d subsequently finished it off. The whole thing was rather frightening, so I decided we’d better wash it thoroughly before eating it.

“It’s nothing like that. Just eat.”

The ruffians must have been hungry, too.

After cautiously taking a sip of the soup, they began eating with gusto.

No matter the circumstances, eating something delicious always made people feel a little better. The men’s expressions softened as they stuffed their cheeks with bread topped with toasted cheese.

Watching them, I asked,

“None of you have ever killed anyone, have you?”

From the way someone handled a blade, I could generally tell whether or not they’d killed another person.

The men nodded hesitantly.

“Yeah.”

“Then it’s not too late for you to turn your lives around. Atone for your crimes.”

“…You don’t know a damn thing. We need money.”

One of the men, apparently their leader, growled in a low voice.

A southern accent.

So he wasn’t from around here.

“Even if I knew your circumstances, I’d tell you exactly the same thing. Stop causing trouble for people who are trying to make an honest living here. Fortunately, Goran’s economy is thriving. Pay for your crimes and rebuild your lives. Penal labor isn’t easy, but you do get paid. You can even continue working there after serving your sentence and receive advances on your wages. You can bring your families here to live with you or send money home to support them.”

Because of my former profession, criminal law had been one of the first things I’d researched after arriving here. Different regions sometimes prohibited surprisingly unexpected things, and it was possible to commit a crime without even realizing it.

The Goran territory was strict when it came to serious crimes such as murder, but it also provided extensive support to help petty criminals reintegrate into society.

The men’s eyes widened, and they immediately became excited.

“W-we can send money home?”

“We can get jobs?”

“C-can we live with our families?”

“You’ll earn more than you do as bandits. The Goran Knight Order is strong, so banditry isn’t very profitable around here.”

I’d meant that quite seriously, but the men suddenly burst into laughter.

“Ain’t that the truth!”

“That pretty boy’s one hell of a fighter, too!”

“This just ain’t worth it!”

After finishing my duties as the bandits’ dinner attendant, I returned to Refa and Noah. Refa spoke thoughtfully.

“It seems your words really touched their hearts, Lydia-san.”

“Who knows?”